Mumbai, August 24: India’s first penguin which was born Independence Day, died on Thursday in Mumbai's Byculla zoo due to a health complication. The baby penguin was born to Flipper and Mr Molt at 8:02 pm on August 15. Flipper and Molt are two of the seven Humboldt penguins brought to the Zoo in 2016. At the time of birth, the baby was reported to be stable.

Doctors were closely monitoring the baby penguin and its parents. According to a press release of a Veterinary team of Humboldt Penguin Management, both the parents were taking good care of the chick, and the chick development was proper; however, the chick was found to be sinking on August 22. A post-mortem was conducted by the team of professors from Bombay Veterinary College, Parel consisting of a pathologist, microbiologist and an aviation specialist on August 23 at the zoo hospital.

The preliminary examination revealed that newborn anomalies like yolk sac and liver dysfunction are the major cause of the death. Multiple references on the management of penguins show that 60 percent mortality is expected in eggs and chicks due to various reasons like infertility of egg and malposition of a chick in inside egg. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species and Survival has mentioned a 30-35 percent mortality in the chicks less than 30 days. The management assured of better results of breeding and chick development survival of Humboldt penguins at the zoo.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 06:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).